Louisiana Moon (32 page)

Ryant escorted her toward the break room as a million questions bombarded her mind, circling and never stopping. Would Darin be normal again? What a stupid thought. He was now a vampire. Of course, he would never be normal. How long would it take for at least a small fraction of his old self to return? Maybe she’d made the worst mistake of her life and Darin would suffer. Again.

“Your thoughts are driving me crazy.” As they entered the room, Ryant’s hand rested on the small of her back. “Here, take a seat and I’ll make you some coffee.”

There was no clock. “What’s the time?”

“It’s six in the morning.”

Emotionally drained, she sank into the chair. “I can’t believe what just happened.”

“Something is wrong with Darin.”

“You think.” She swiped her hand over the table.

“Not just that. Something else. I intend to find out exactly what. I don’t want you near him until we know.” Ryant busied himself with her coffee. He turned to face her. “I’m serious. Do not go near him.”

“Trust me, I won’t.”

He studied her, and then walked her way, knelt on the ground before her. “Are you okay?” He smoothed a hand over her cheek.

“That scared the shit out of me, Ryant. He heard me talk to you through my mind.”

He stopped caressing her skin. “What?”

“Yes. He heard me talk to you. I thought you were the only one who could hear me.”

“Me too.” With a scowl, he got to his feet and paced the floor.

“What are we going to do?” She nibbled on her bottom lip.

“I don’t know.” He shook his head and paused. “V says she’s calmed Darin down, gave him some of her blood and his body didn’t reject it.”

“What does that mean?”

“When a vampire gives blood to feed, too much can kill a new blood. Fresh blood, non-vampire blood is usually what’s needed to complete the transformation. Seems he didn’t need the non-vampire blood and is doing fine on the vamp blood and he shouldn’t be.”

“Sounds very wrong.”

“I agree.” His gaze softened on her. “You’re tired, my love. Are you sure you don’t want to sleep? I can trash the coffee.”

Maybe she should rest. “I think I will. Try to forget about what happened.”

“I think that would be wise. Though I know what you went through will trouble your mind. Try not to worry. I’m here for you, Kris.”

The same thing she’d said to Darin before she had him turned. Still, she gave Ryant a weak smile. “Thank you.”

“Come on, I’ll walk you to my room.” He offered his hand, and she accepted.

As they walked to his room, she clung to his frame, needing his strength and support. Once inside his room, he walked behind her, guiding her to the bed. With tenderness, he pushed her onto the mattress then slipped off her shoes and socks and tucked her under the covers.

“Rest.”

“I’ll try my best.”

He kissed her, smoothing her hair off the pillow.

* * * *

The cell phone ringing tore her from her sleep. What the hell? Grumbling, she leaned over the side of the bed. As she fumbled through the pile of her things on the floor, she extracted her cell and checked the caller ID. It was Josh. “Hello?”

“Were you sleeping?”

“Yes.”

“I haven’t heard from you in a while. You said you had information you wanted to talk to me about. Can we meet?”

“Right now?” She only wanted to sleep.

“I have a couple of hours free. My schedule is tight after today.”

“Crap. Okay. Where?”

“Alligator Alley.”

That was two hours away. Wait, she was in New Orleans, close to Gretna. Damn, she was tired. “Okay, give me thirty minutes, and I’ll be there.”

“Sounds good.”

She snapped the phone shut and groaned, leaning back on the bed. Kris caressed the headache throbbing down the middle of her forehead.

After she got out of bed, she found a pen and paper on Ryant’s desk. She wrote a small note.
I’ll be back later. Meeting Josh
.

She dressed fast and staggered to her car to head to the pub.

As she drove, her mind’s eye became more awake. Why would Josh want to meet at the pub this early in the morning? The place didn’t open until ten. She shook her head. They would talk in the parking lot.

Kris pulled her car into the lot, and there sat Josh on the hood of his car. He appeared thin, tired and overworked. While she parked next to his car, she rolled down her window.

“It’s been a while, Josh. How have you been?” She glanced in the rearview, checking her surroundings, then back at him.

“I’ve been busting my ass at work. How have you been?”

“I’ve been okay. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something I recently discovered.”

“Shoot.”

“A friend helped me learn the truth behind my family history. I’m related to a man a lot of people are looking for.”

“Who is it?”

“Stanley Adams. Heard of him?”

“No. I’m sure I could help you locate him, though. I have a computer program at home. Do you want to follow me and take a look?”

“Sure.” It would be wonderful to put the issue in the past.

“Okay, follow me.” He slipped off his car and got inside.

She followed him for fifteen minutes until they pulled into his drive. She’d never been to his house. The place was a dainty little white house, maybe a two bedroom, one and a half bath. She couldn’t be sure until she was inside. He waved at her and she got out, following his lead.

Inside, the living room was dark. The early rising sun cast a blue haze through the navy colored curtains. She wouldn’t be able to see her hand wave in front of her face even if she tried. A woodsy smell permeated the air. Where had she smelled the scent before?

“Give me a second to find the lamp.” Josh’s low voice came from behind her.

She waited—she didn’t want to trip over anything. Rustling came from her side then something wacked her in the head. She yelled as light sparked behind her lids. Tiny stars speckled and danced then dissolved into darkness as she passed out.

33

The excruciating pain was overwhelming each time Kris moved. Nauseous, she lifted her arms but failed. As she tried again, a steely grip held her wrists. A sob came from her right. She flung her eyes open to earth and vines overhead. It was dark, moist and the air smelled of pure penetrated charcoal, stinging her nose.

“Hello?” someone rumbled in a parched-sounding voice near her.

She turned to see who spoke. Few torches were lit, but there was enough light to show a woman lying near on a rock slab, chained just as she was.

“What’s your name?”

“Rita.” A thin trail of tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.

Gods, the very person she was looking for. “Where are we? Who brought me here?” Kris’s thoughts shifted. Josh was the last person she’d seen. Had he done this? Her teeth ground together.

“We are with them,” Rita whispered, her voice quavering.

Deep inside Kris, her stomach coiled into a tight knot. She had a feeling she know who “them” were. “How long have I been here?”

“Three days.” Rita cried harder, snorting as she tried to conceal the emotion.

Three days? Ryant must be frantic. For the first time, Kris was grateful for the second gift he’d cast upon her. She never would have wanted the gift if he had not bestowed it on her by accident. Now she saw the reason for it. Hope rose inside, flaring deep—until she tried to reach out to his mind but found only silence.

Shit. She yanked, but couldn’t move from the slab. Her legs were spread, and her waist was chained to the hard surface. “Who brought you here?”

“I don’t know,” Rita moaned.

“Who were you with last?”

“My boyfriend, Stanley.”

Kris raised her head to inspect the room. A circular pool of murky water occupied the distance between them and the table. There were two doors in front of her, a table with shiny, pointy objects glimmering with reflected fire. Three empty mason jars were centered on it. Several were filled with plant roots of some kind. The empty jars scared her the most. With no idea what they were for, she swallowed around a thick tongue.

“I will get us out of here, Rita,” she reassured the other woman as best as she could. “I promise.”

Rita sucked in a stuttering, ragged breath. “It’s no use. I’ve tried. They are very strong.”

Fuck
. Okay, she had to think. Kris lay there. She had to try to get Ryant through her mind.
Ryant, come on lover, can you hear me? You gave this gift to me, now use it to find me.

As she waited for a response, she searched the room again. On the far corner lay an effigy. She swallowed and glanced past the table. Two animal carcasses lay near the doors, like they had been freshly killed. Her breath picked up. This had to be a ritual room. Around the room sat some kind of plant that dispensed the low fog.

Ryant?
Nothing. Her mind was quiet. Ghastly quiet. More than anything, this scared the shit out of her. Swishing from across the way broke her descent into terror. A hooded figure walked into the room, then stopped.

Kris shrank back against the slab as the hooded person—thing—from her dreams neared. “What do you want?” she spat.

The figure didn’t move or speak. Rita sucked in a ragged breath, crying harder.

Kris clenched her teeth, “I said, what do you want?”

Long arms rose from the cloak and pushed back the hood. The face she knew so well, one of the few she’d trusted, came into sight, and Josh smiled smugly at her. “I came to check on you. To see how you were faring.” He looked around the room. “It’s not the Hilton, but it works, right?”

Shock took her breath away briefly then she snarled. “You son of a bitch. I trusted you.”

He shook his head and pointed at her. “No, I trusted you.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I trusted you to stay home the night your parents were killed. But you were out with Ryant.” Josh balled his hands into fists. “You should have been dead a long time ago. I’m glad I found you here in Louisiana. It’s time to end the world. Your world.”

She swallowed, unable to speak. He moved nearer and rested a hand on her ankle, squeezing. Under her confinement, she squirmed. He stared at her with something that looked like desire but was much deeper and darker. Power. Power projected into her eyes.

“Get your hand off me.”

His hand slid to her knee. As he watched his movements, Josh licked his lips. Skinny fingers glided over her thigh, and she bucked, arching her back to move away from him. Didn’t work on damn bit.

“You see, this is what we are after.” He cupped her mound between her legs then stroked a burning path to her belly. “There is something inside you we need to complete the transformation. Deep inside is the essence that will make our true leader rise again.”

What the hell did that mean? “Get away from me.”

Ignoring her, he continued, “In due time our leader will be here, and when he arrives, we will take what we need from you.” He smiled pleasantly as he massaged her belly. “It’s not sex, Kristina. It’s the blood from your womb. But to make it easier for you, I could change my appearance, become the person you desire. Like Ryant.” His face changed, molding into Ryant’s.

Panic shot through her, pricking her nerve endings.

“Is this the person who you would prefer to take the blood from you? Someone you thought you never could trust, but now do.” His voice sounded like Ryant’s too.

“You sick bastard.” His hand left her, and she blew out a breath as he walked to Rita. “Stay away from her,” she shouted.

He looked over his shoulder at Kris as his mask disappeared, and his face went back to the normal Josh. “Or would you want me to greet both of you in the way I’ve greeted you in your dreams?”